Hitaiate
by story in reverse
Summary: Naruto turns in an overdue assignment. '...marks from Iruka's red pen only hurt brainy people like Sakura...' Set around chapter 238.


Title: Hitai-ate  
Author: Ayako  
Rating: G  
Genre: General  
Warnings: Spoilers for recent manga chapters  
Word Count: 1952 without the information, end, and notes  
Summary: Naruto turns in an overdue assignment.

He remembers struggling with this particular assignment the day it was assigned.

Naruto has selective hearing; he tends to block out everything that does not involve the words: Hokage and ramen. So it is certainly a surprise to him when he realizes that he can remember every single thing that Iruka-sensei has told him. Well, besides a couple of things...such as school-related subjects. He would have had a higher rank than "dead last" if he chose to file those bits of information into his brain. Actually, when he thinks about it, it makes sense. Naruto has never had many chances to socialize with people...or rather, he has never been given the chance. Remembering just about everything Iruka-sensei has ever said isn't a big deal since the only other voice echoing throughout his head is his own.

So it isn't necessarily true that he is stupid. Far from it, actually. Naruto is certainly a genius of something and that's probably stubbornness. When he starts something, he sets out to accomplish it. He prefers to go about it his own way rather than in the set way those before him went about it. In a way, he considers them shortcuts and something purely not Naruto. When he asks Ero-sennin, or anyone, for a little hint, he's really asking for him to remind Naruto not to give up. Surely with his perseverance and his abundance of energy, one would think Naruto didn't need anyone to encourage him. On the contrary, Naruto strives toward a greater purpose, something far greater than becoming hokage: he seeks to protect the people he loves.

Naruto is cast in the role of the fool. Whether he auditioned for it or not, he still took it upon himself to weave layer upon layer until all everyone could see was the face of "comedy." Originally his intention was to gather the attention of the people through practical jokes and delinquency. It worked and he has people to care for and people who care about him. He's aware that he's completely comfortable with playing that role, but it isn't necessary anymore because the purpose of the act has been accomplished. Now Naruto isn't sure if he's acting or if that's who he is.

But it's something he had set out to do and so he continues to do it.

And so we are brought to today in which Naruto is yet again, trying to finish something he left unfinished. As mentioned before, Naruto has selective hearing which was precisely the reason why he chose never to do homework when it was assigned. There was one time, however, when he decided that "Yeah, this sounds almost...cool! I think I want to try to do this!" and as soon as he got home, he started to write as much as he could.

The floor found itself littered with crumpled up pieces of paper.

Naruto came up with many excuses for not having finished it. He wasn't used to doing homework and wasn't sure how to finish it, he ran out of paper, he accidentally spilled some soup onto it, he broke his pencils...just...whatever as long as he found some way to push the essay prompt to the back of his head. If he could have, he would have thrown it away but instead it was stored away in the many boxes that lay unopened in his head.

It has been a year since its assigned due date. Naruto suddenly realizes that he's in danger of being a hypocrite for running away from something so little. A piece of paper with a few words. The only way it'd hurt him was through a paper cut because marks from Iruka-sensei's red pen only hurt brainy people like Sakura-chan.

/ Write about your thoughts on what it means to obtain a hitai-ate. Think about its purpose in order to expand your ideas. /

He remembers struggling with this particular assignment the day it was assigned and it doesn't feel much easier today. It just suddenly came up in his mind when he found himself contemplating the recent events: the sudden distance between three, a crying Sakura, the promise he failed to keep, a declaration of friendship, the severing of broken ties, and a battle between two monsters.

Naruto knows he will not be coming back for three years and he doesn't want to leave anything left undone. One year is enough and he needs to get his head in order. He has no time to be reminiscing about overdue assignments during the trip.

Come to think of it, he knows the exact time when he "found himself contemplating the recent events." It was...

_Sakura brought flowers again._

_Sometimes Naruto wonders if she's feeling guilty because she comes in almost everyday to replace the ones from the other day. She has never given him flowers before, but when he thinks about it, he realizes that he has never been in the hospital long enough, or for serious enough a reason, to receive any from her._

_They talk about little things. Sometimes Sakura tells him what a pain she thinks Ino is and that with Tsunade's training, it would only be a short amount of time until Ino regrets insulting Sakura and starts realizing what little chance she had at beating her. After a moment of awkward silence, she would amend herself, with a guilty look on her face, by saying that it was because of Ino that she was able to bring Naruto fresh flowers everyday. If Naruto knew the language of flowers, said Sakura, then he would feel really grateful because as much as she wants to deny it, Ino is a master at conveying messages. And of course, she tells Naruto that if he ever dares to utter a word to anyone (because she can't have anyone knowing that she respects Ino of all people), she'll beat his head in._

_When a comfortable mood is set, Sakura looks out the window as if she's expecting someone and Naruto fiddles with the object in his hands._

_Fingers trail over the cool metal, tracing over the curves of the leaf before stopping abruptly at the imperfection that mars the symbol. Almost hesitantly, they venture further and prod at the roughness of the scar. It seems so ugly, so natural. Rough and jagged as opposed to smooth and rounded._

_But it's real and Naruto sees more than just a crude-looking "scratch."_

_It surprises him when she suddenly asks if that's Sasuke-kun's hitai-ate he's holding. He's gotten so used to the quiet that he doesn't notice the times when she looks away from the window and gazes at him with worry._

_She reminds him that it's uncharacteristic of Konoha's "number one loudmouth" to be silent...not that she doesn't enjoy it, but it's strange._

_He isn't sure if that's an insult or a compliment considering how it started as an act and quite possibly became a part of his personality. So Naruto simply grins and tells her that he's thinking about something and doesn't tell her what it is._

_Sakura looks at him and taps her foot against the floor, waiting with a certain degree of patience for an answer to her first question. It has been over a month since his return and she thinks that it's a sufficient amount of time for him to have thought it over—to, if they existed, heal his emotional scars._

_Naruto__ admits that yes, it's Sasuke's hitai-ate he's holding and that the mark on it was a result of using Rasengan. He isn't sure what to say and suddenly wonders how much Sakura likes Sasuke now. Sasuke may have left Konoha, but it doesn't mean he left Sakura's heart despite her being rejected. As much as Naruto likes Sakura, her feelings for him are the farthest things from his mind so he isn't thinking about moving in. Right now he's her friend and he's anxious to know if she's hurt._

_The expression on her face is exactly the one that was on Naruto's when she asked him about Sasuke's hitai-ate. Naruto's hands are in her direction and the hitai-ate lays in his hands. He's offering the last memory of his dearest friend to her. Her, who rejected him, and at times insulted him._

_She still likes Sasuke, but her feelings are starting to ebb away. Sakura is aware that she doesn't know him, that even if he sees her as friend, he doesn't see her as a shinobi to be reckoned with and that's what he's looking for, not a girlfriend. She's tired of changing herself for the sake of this so called love and now she's finally doing what she really wants to do, and that's to become strong enough to protect her friends._

_So when she reaches forward for it, it's because those feelings are still a present, even if they aren't as strong as they used to be. It takes a bit of effort for her to snatch her hands away and shake her head._

_Sakura tells him rather than asks him about the reason Sasuke-kun left it behind. He could've given it to her when he was leaving with the Sound-nin. She was the last person he saw before he left and a teammate. It would've made sense if he gave it to her, right? She didn't see him wearing it when he left, but if Naruto had it now, that must've meant he kept it even though he was never to returnwouldn't Sasuke-kun want to get rid of every connection he had to Konoha as soon as possible?_

_She states that Sasuke-kun left it with Naruto for a reason and it's not right for her to take it._

_Naruto looks at her in awe and is instantly reminded that Sakura is one of the brightest people he knows. After she leaves, he remembers how Sasuke's brother had a mark similar to the one Naruto made and how it probably represented the severing of ties with their villages._

_Sasuke may have left the village, but it doesn't mean he left their friendship behind._

Suddenly, he finds himself stocking up on paper, clearing away soup cans, and sharpening as many pencils as he can dig out of his drawers. Naruto settles down and begins to write.

Sometime later, he hands it to Iruka-sensei and has a bowl of ramen for old times' sake.

Iruka watches Naruto leave with Jiraiya and takes a look at the paper. It's filled with mistakes and it doesn't exactly flow since it's probably more of a poem than an essay, but he doesn't remember the prompt exactly anyway and it's strange to have Naruto turn anything in. (Iruka knows he can't go and change Naruto's gradewhich probably wouldn't change even if he got an A+since he isn't his teacher anymore and the boy already graduated.)

What It Means to Obtain a Hitai-ate  
By Uzumaki Naruto

Hitai-ate. It...  
can protect your forehead.  
can substitute for a belt.  
can be a hair accessory in place of a ribbon.  
can help cover your face when you blush based on your skin tone.  
can hide the sigma of hate etched onto your forehead.  
is the trademark of shinobi.  
is a symbol of growing up.  
is proof that I belong in Konoha.

And near the bottom in messier than usual handwriting:  
is my promise to Sasuke, that I'll bring him back to Konoha...even if I have to break a  
bone or two.

It isn't anything special, but Iruka knows that Naruto put his heart into it. He thinks Naruto will be satisfied with the grade he gets when he comes back. Maybe he'll staple it to Naruto's refrigerator.

End

Notes: It feels odd for me to use "hitai-ate" as opposed to headband or forehead protector in some parts because of the grammar, but I think it works in the "important" parts. It's pretty much unedited for now and if I feel like it, I'll polish it up, but for the time being, I just want to post it. XD; I'm unused to writing in present tense, so sorry for the mistakes. I'm not too sure about how I did on characterization and it feels almost...random in the beginning. And my title? Very unimaginative.


End file.
